


The Promise You Broke (Extended Version)

by MissTantabis



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Dark, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Extended Version, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Gore, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 22:02:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18270122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissTantabis/pseuds/MissTantabis
Summary: The force of the blow caused his arms to tremble. He could taste blood on his tongue. The glass broke and wine spilled everywhere. It landed on his face, the table and floor. And Gellert stood there, holding the broken off neck of the bottle in his fist, staring at the shards and wine all around him; and he started crying.After a failed attempt to find the Resurrection Stone, Gellert Grindelwald's already unstable mind and bleeding heart causes him to yearn for Albus Dumbledore to return to him.





	The Promise You Broke (Extended Version)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Promise You Broke](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10553752) by [MissTantabis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissTantabis/pseuds/MissTantabis). 



> Hello everybody,  
> I am very glad that you found this story of mine. Some people, who have followed me, might remember "Hey Miss T, you posted a story of the same title before!"; and yes, indeed I did. However Melli alias bluecrownedbird did such a fabulous [fan drawing](http://bluecrownedbird.tumblr.com/post/182989177259/inspired-by-the-promise-you-broke) of one of the critical scenes, that I suddenly felt the desire to rewrite and in some ways alter this story of mine. It now got longer, even more sadder and even more heartwrenching. Because of course I had to make poor Grindelwald suffer.  
> If you loved my story, then please leave a Kudos and a comment. It not only makes my day, but also keeps me motivated to write and improve.  
> Lots of love, Miss T

_This is where love lies alone_  
This is where hope dies and I hope you know  
The promise you broke to come home again  
has shattered my dreams, you've lost everything 

– _Lost Everything_ by Counterfeit

The man, who opened Gellert Grindelwald the door to the shop, was the same person, who had given him the address to it. The entrance was small – Gellert needed to dodge a bit to avoid hitting his head – and lead into a store in a backyard. Considering what commodities were sold here, that decision made sense.

The store was dingy and small. It felt cramped as any free space not near the door or before the counter was stocked full with shelves and boxes. They were loaded with all kinds of utensils. From severed limbs to skulls to some dusty books, bound in thick black leather to some exotic and perfectly crafted jewellery…

The air was thick with the scent of dried herbs. Grindelwald marched towards the counter. Behind it cowered the trader. He was just as pale and ill-looking as his commodities. His white, waxen skin clung to his skull; his eyes seemed to bulge out like those of a fish.

“The doorman informed you what I am looking for?”, Gellert asked.

The salesman nodded. “Yes, yes, he did.” He rubbed his fingers against each other, tongue darting over his lips. “Quite a rare and costly commodity.”

Jibbed, Gellert pulled out a leather purse. As he worked on the threads to open it, coins jingled. The salesman perked up, however he tried his best to reel his greed in.

All that acting went out the window, the moment  Gellert Grindelwald poured a heap of g alleons onto the counter. In the dimness of the room, they seemed to blaze. The salesman’s fish eyes widened and  looked like they were about to pop out. His mouth pulled into a crooked grin.

“That’s going to suffice.”

He reached underneath his table and pulled out a small, black box. “I won’t lie”, he stated, drumming his fingers upon the  lid , “Finding this particular specimen was a challenge. After all, it is not just any stone. But here it is, preserved under powerful protections.”

With these words, the salesman opened the box. On a red velvet pillow rested a small, black, hexagon stone. A strange, white emblem was incised upon its centre: A triangle, which framed a circle and from which tip went a vertical line.

_Zuerst der Türsteher, Gellert._

The bloke had no chance to react to the Stunning Spell. He was thrown off his feet and smacked against the wall, before he slumped down. Gellert spun around and pointed his wand at the salesman. The man was about to draw his own wand.

“ _Expelliarmus!_ ” Catching the wand, Gellert snapped it in two with his bare hand. The salesman flinched and whined at the sight of his most precious possession, rendered useless. Gellert tossed the pieces onto the ground.

“Wie dumm muss man sein, um einem Schwarzmagier den falschen Stein zu verkaufen?!”, Gellert hissed, “Hast du ernsthaft geglaubt ich kann nicht erkennen, dass dieser Stein der Auferstehung nur ein Mondstein ist, den du mit Lampenruß geschwärzt hast?!” To prove his point, he picked up the stone and rubbed over it with the thumb. Something black clung to his skin, while white shimmered on the stone. Grindelwald tossed it back onto the counter.

The salesman tried to reach for the coins, but Gellert placed his hand upon the pile. “Don’t even try it”, he said, “You wanted to trick me. You don’t deserve any money for your services.” Grindelwald filled the coins back into his purse and stuffed it into his inner cloak pocket.

How much here was a fake? Upon closer inspection, Gellert noticed that everything looked off here. The jewels were shining awkwardly and even the gold looked muddied. The silverware had been mixed with cheaper metals. Gellert would not put it past this shop owner to bind empty books or bibles in leather and sell them as ancient, dark magical volumes.

How could somebody make money out of frauds and nobody else noticing it? The only things, that seemed to not be faked, were all the parts of dead animals. In a jar on the counter swam several eyes. Among them were a pair of Niffler eyes.

Gellert nodded towards the jar, wand still directed at the shop owner. “Take the beady black ones”, the blonde wizard instructed, “Maybe they will help you remember what value means.” The shop owner’s hand trembled as he tried to fish the eyes out of the jar. Under Gellert’s watchful gaze, he forced the first eye down, almost swallowed up and whimpered.

However Gellert did not let him go and waited for him to gobble up the second eye too. The salesman coughed, tears in his eyes and shame on his cheeks. “The next time you are making a deal and considering to cheat your costumer, think about what has happened today. Then maybe you will find your claim to wealth.”

Grindelwald disapparated just as the doorman was stirring.

***

Keeping his cool for this long had been a challenge, when every single fibre in Gellert’s being had screamed to burn the entire place to the ground! Not that this pathetic excuse of a shop owner had offended him that much. This had not been about him. This had been about the fact that he had let some stupid hearsay be his guide.

_Großartige Arbeit, Grindelwald! Du willst den Stein der Auferstehung finden und suchst ihn im Schmutz!_ His chest heaved as  Gellert leaned against the shut door of  his hideout and stared ahead.

It was a small apartment with a rent of five galleon. This was cheap for an apartment. But then the room was located above the attic. The window seemed to cover parts of the ceiling and it was milky from all the smoke and dust. The oil lamp reeked and in its orange glow, Gellert could see his furnishings: A bed, a table, upon which a few books piled themselves, and a chair. Next to the bed lay his rucksack.

Gellert grabbed a bottle of half-finished liquor, which dusted in the corner. Inspecting the liquid with a critical eye, Gellert drank in big gulps. The Firewhiskey had lost parts of its sharpness, making it taste like some lukewarm brandy, but Gellert honestly could not care less.

_This was the oldest trick in the book, and you fe_ _l_ _l for it, Gellert! You fell for it!_ How could  he have been this stupid? The Resurrection Stone was such a rare and priceless artefact. An item of stories. Most wizards believed it to be a thing of fairy tales! Why should it have been sold in a store?  W hy had  Gellert thought some random stranger could find it for  him ? No! Such a mission required  him to be in the lead and only use certified and trusted sources.

He swallowed the last remains of the Firewhiskey. Clutching the bottle’s neck in one hand, Gellert reached forwards and tapped with the Elder Wand against a shelf’s drawer. He dragged a strange, little pendant out by a silvery chain. It looked like an orange amber, encased in a hexagon of silver spirals and swirls. Through that hexagon went a miniature wand. Upon its top, two letters were etched, partly looped around each other: G and D. The amber glowed and pulsated. Two little red dots were chasing each other.

Gellert clenched his teeth against each other so hard, it hurt. He whispered: “You wouldn’t have fallen for that trick, wouldn’t you? No, you would have noticed how stupid it is. You would have told me I should not have done that. Or maybe you would have laughed? Isn’t that what you would have done? Laugh and humiliate me?!”

His hands clutched so hard around the bottle, that his knuckles stood out. Suddenly Gellert unleashed an angry yell and smashed the bottle upon the pendant. The force of the blow caused his arms to tremble. He could taste blood on his tongue. The glass broke and wine spilled everywhere. It landed on his face, the table and floor. And Gellert stood there, holding the broken off neck of the bottle in his fist, staring at the shards and wine all around him; and he started crying.

Dropping the neck of the bottle, Gellert staggered backwards and slumped into the nearest armchair. Burying his face in his hand, he sobbed. This day had been dreadful! He had been humiliated and fallen for one of the simplest tricks in the world! He had not come one step closer to finding the Resurrection Stone! Gellert just wanted to curl up and sleep. He wanted to forget that today had even happened. His body shifted around in the armchair. Arms draped across his legs, his head tilted forwards and his eyelids shut…

“Gellert.” The words reached his ear in a mere whisper. Maybe it had only been the wind, rustling the branches of the trees. “Gellert, wake up. I think, I found it.” Fingers ran through Gellert’s hair. They played around with the strands. “Come on, Kit. Wake up.”

It was this chosen nickname, Kit, which made Gellert cautiously open his eyes. Only one person had ever called him Kit. But no, he could not be here! Surely he would not be here! And yet as his eyes blinked and Gellert got used to the dim light of the room, he saw a young boy with auburn curls and large, crystal blue eyes. He wore a brown vest over a white shirt and dark trousers.

“Albus…” Gellert could not find the words. His throat felt constricted. _I cannot believe you are here._ A feeble smile grew on Gellert’s lips, too scared to appear fully. After all what if he had just gone mad? What if this all was in his head? “You’ve come.”

Albus laughed. “Of course I’ve come, you dummy. What’s so surprising about this?”

Gellert stammered: “I just thought that after… Well, I thought you had no more reason to come with me.”

Albus took Gellert’s hands and pulled him on his feet. “Kit, that’s non-sense”, he reassured him. He placed his palm against Gellert’s and interlaced their fingers with one another. Squeezing them tightly, Albus said: “There is nowhere I’d rather be then here with you.”

“But your brother…”

“My brother does not matter, Gellert. My family does not matter. You matter.” Albus reached forwards and plucked at a chain on Gellert’s neck. He pulled the pendant out. Gellert did not know how it had ended up underneath his shirt. The blond wizard was sure he had placed it on the table.

Albus kept the pendant in his hand. The vial fit perfectly in his  f ingers. Albus brushed a thumb against it. The pendant pulsate d and glow ed underneath his touch, growing steadily warm. And as its warmth grew,  Gellert Grindelwald felt as if not just the pendant was beating, but  his heart as well. Two joint hearts, beating in union. The blood sang in  Gellert’s ears.  They were two people in one body.  Gellert could not tell, where Albus ended and  he began.

“We made a promise”, whispered Albus, “You remember it, right?”

“Yes.” Gellert lay his hand upon the pendant, clutching his fingers. His smile grew. “Niemals allein”, he whispered, “We swore, we would never fight each other and that we would do this together. Together, we will bring a glorious future for the wizarding world. For the Greater Good.”

Albus smiled. “Exactly”, he said, “And I am still here. I never left.” He rose his hand and brushed Gellert’s tears away with his thumb. “So please, Kit, stop crying.” Gellert sniffled and nodded.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Maybe some nonsensical fear. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

But then why was  he having it at all, when Albus stood so clearly in front of  him ? When  Gellert could touch him? When  Gellert felt the blood pact singing from  their touch? Besides he was here, helping  Gellert ! He had said it himself. He had never left! He had always been there! Being afraid made no sense. Fearing that  Albus would abandon  him made no sense. He was here now.  Albus wouldn’t leave  Gellert . Not now! Not ever!

“You said, you found it. What were you talking about?”

Albus reached into his pocket in excitement and pulled out a little parcel. He unwrapped a stone, shaped like a hexagon. There was a strange emblem etched onto the onyx: A triangle with a vertical line and a circle in it. The stone vibrated from power; and as Albus opened his palm properly, it floated up and slowly spun around. The air smelled like trees in November. Damp leaves and injured animals, which could not escape into the safety of the earth.

“Is that what I think it is?”, Gellert whispered.

“Yes.”

Gellert’s fingers trembled as he took the stone in his own hand. It felt as cold as a piece of ice in his palm. The scent seemed to be even stronger now. Gellert stared down at the stone in disbelief, a wide smile on his face.

“Albus”, Gellert stammered, “You are a genius, Mandelkern. How did you find this?”

“Does it matter?”, asked Albus back.

It probably did not. What mattered was, that they had the stone. They had gotten one step closer to becoming the Masters of Death. Gellert looked back at Albus and placed the stone away.

“Come here!”, Gellert called in delight. He rose his hands and wiggled his fingers.

Albus smiled and placed his hands against Gellert’s hips. He was a touch taller then the blonde remembered him. When had he gotten so tall? His touch was soft and alluring. Albus leaned closer. His lips met Gellert’s. The kiss was sweet like rose pedals. The Durmstrang’s exilant’s heart fluttered like a caged bird.

Gellert shut his eyes and leaned himself against him. The blood pact’s warm stone bit into his chest. Kissing him deeply, his fingers wandered over the redhead’s shoulder blades, before they clawed tightly into the skin. “I love you”, Gellert whispered against his lips as he kept kissing Albus, “I love you. You know that, right? Right?”

No answer.

Instead  his fingers clawed themselves into the curve of  his elbows.  Gellert opened  his eyes again.  He was sitting in the armchair, arms wrapped tightly around  him self.  _Du bist ein Narr, Gellert!_ It had been a dream. Albus was not here. He would never be with  the blonde wizard again.

Suddenly the room felt cold and empty. Gellert Grindelwald could have slapped himself for his own stupidity. So many unspoken words. So many missed chances. How many times had Gellert wished he could have said “I love you” again? Too many times. But he would never be able to say it to Albus again. Gellert had forfeited that right!

One stupid mistake had destroyed everything! Why was it that one action ended up ruining his life? First in Durmstrang, Gellert’s desire to help had resulted in an experiment, which horribly backfired! And for that mistake – for that mauling of a human life – Gellert had been expelled. His friends had turned their backs on him and scorned him. Nobody had bothered to try to understand what Gellert had tried to do! When if his experiment had worked, that dead student could have been able to see again!

But that situation had been nothing compared to what Gellert had endured in Godric’s Hollow! One stupid fight had derailed an entire relationship. Had kicked him out of the one safe harbour he still had in this world. Sometimes Gellert wanted to scream. Why was this all so unfair? But then how was he to blame? Albus had been the one, who could not decide between Gellert and his family. Albus had been the one, who betrayed him.

_You cannot imagine it, unless you have been there._ Betrayal was one of the worst emotions you could possibly experience. It hurt like a blade, lodged between your ribs. But unlike hate and aggression, it carried twice the energy. Twice the scorch, twice the blame, twice the hurt. Because it had come from somebody, whom you had once called friend!

Then why did Gellert want this friend to come back? His look fell on the pendant on the table. He clutched his hand into a fist. It made no sense! None! Albus would never come back to him, even though everything in Gellert wanted that. He had made his choice. His family over Gellert. His family over the person, he had claimed to love!

That was why they had made this blood pact after all! What use did it have now? It was just a sorry reminder of what should have been. Now it was the manifestation of broken promises and broken hearts. Gellert’s love had always been like a fire. But now it had left the protective boundaries of the stove. It had turned savage and merciless for it had to be!

His revolution carried all the rage, hatred and anger, which slumbered inside of him. Anger for the Ministry, but also for Albus. What was it worth now? To be the leader of the revolution for the Greater Good? It was all empty. If only Albus had not betrayed Gellert. But he was gone. He would not come back.

Gellert could no longer rely on him. The old him maybe had. But Albus had murdered him! Had robbed him of everything he had! Gellert was again thrust into the state of being nothing. But this time Gellert would not stay in that stasis forever! He could replace Albus. Gellert Grindelwald would find a group of people – a group of Acolytes – that would help him change the world. The Acolytes would be noble people. Noble and loyal. Far better then that ragtag and bobtail of a lover could ever be!

* * *

Translation:

_Zuerst der Türsteher, Gellert_. = First the doorman, Gellert.

"Wie dumm muss man sein, um einem Schwarzmagier den falschen Stein zu verkaufen?! Hast du ernsthaft geglaubt ich  kann nicht erkennen , dass dieser Stein der Auferstehung nur ein Mondstein ist, den du mit Lampenruß geschwärzt hast?!” = How stupid do you have to be to try and sell the wrong stone to a dark wizard? Did you honestly believe I cannot recognise that this Ressurection Stone is just a moonstone you darkened with lamp ash?  


_Großartige Arbeit, Grindelwald! Du willst den Stein der Auferstehung finden und suchst ihn im Schmutz!_ = Great job, Grindelwald! You want to find the Ressurection stone and search for it in the dirt!

Mandelkern = Amygdala or almond's core

Du bist ein Narr, Gellert. = You are a fool, Gellert

**Author's Note:**

> If you loved my story, then please leave a Kudos and a comment. It not only makes my day, but also keeps me motivated to write and improve.


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